Nicolaus Copernicus

Nicholas Copernicus (Thorn, February 19 , 1473 – Frauenburg, May 24 , 1543 ) was a Polish astronomer , creator of the heliocentric system (which states that the center of the solar system is not the planet Earth but the Sun). ^[1]

He was the author of a series of theses that helped the study and understanding of the Earth , the Sun and cosmology in general. In the history of science , the doctrine of Copernicus constituted a revolutionary act with which the investigation of nature declared itself independent. From there begins the liberation of science with respect to theology . Copernicus’s fundamental work is The Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres (1543).

Summary

[ disguise ]

• 1 Biographical summary
  • 1 Death
• 2 Work
• 3 The Copernican system
• 4 References
• 5 Sources

Biographical summary

He was born on February 19 , 1473 in Thorn , a small Polish port on the Vistula River, near the Baltic Sea . His name was Mikolaj Kopernik, which he Latinized as Nicolaus Copernicus. When he was ten years old, his merchant father died and his education was left to his maternal uncle, an important Polish bishop .

Guided by his uncle, he received careful training at important universities. In 1491 he entered the University of Krakow . There Alberto Brudzewski , famous mathematician and astronomer, awakened in young Nicolás a taste for these sciences. Although on the advice of his uncle he graduated in medicine , he acquired a solid mathematical training in Krakow and discovered the contradictions of the Ptolemaic astronomical model. He probably also learned there knowledge of the art of stargazing . He left Krakow in 1795 and entered the famous University of Bologna ( Italy ) to study Canon Law .

He remained there until the year 1500 , cultivating, along with Law , his passion for astronomy with Professor Domenico María Novara , critic of Claudio Ptolemy ‘s geography , in whose house he stayed. In Bologna Copernicus learned Greek , which would later allow him to read the original texts on astronomy in that language.

On March 9, 1497 , he made an observation that allowed him to conclude that the distance of the Moon from the Earth does not vary in the quarters and in the full phase. This contradicted what Ptolemy had foreseen and showed the way to overcome it: the association of reasoning and observation. In 1500 he received his doctorate in astronomy in Rome and was appointed professor at the University there. But his doubts about Ptolemy’s model, which was then taught to his students, led him to resign from the professorship.

At that time he entered the famous School of Medicine at the University of Padua. In this city he deepened his knowledge of the Greek language and classical literature . Copernicus was restless in search of a solution to the anomalies shown by the Ptolemaic models, which put the Postulate of Homogeneity and Harmony of the Cosmos in crisis. In 1503 he graduated in canon law from the University of Ferrara, and then returned to Poland. Having been ordained a priest, he lived until 1510 with his uncle, practicing medicine and collaborating in the administration of the diocese. During the year 1509 he published the Greek translation of Theophylactus’ letters, studied finance and in 1522 wrote a memorandum on monetary reforms.

Death

He died on May 24 , 1543 in Frauenburg .

Construction site

Nicholas Copernicus as a writer to test his theories

When the bishop died in 1512 , Copernicus took up residence in Frauenburg and dedicated himself to the administration of the chapter’s assets for the rest of his days; He always maintained the ecclesiastical employment of canon, but without receiving sacred orders. He became interested in economic theory, dealing in particular with monetary reform, a topic on which he published a treatise in 1528 . He also practiced medicine, and cultivated his humanistic interests. Between the years 1507 and 1515 he wrote his first work on astronomy, known as the Commentariolus. It initially circulated through a few handwritten copies and was only published in the 19th century .

In it he already exposes his heliocentric conception. Without resorting to mathematical demonstrations, he describes the solar system , pointing out the location of the planets according to their distance from the Sun. The second of his three astronomical writings is from the year 1524 and is a criticism of Juan Werner ‘s treatise On the Movement of the Eighth Sphere. Nuremberg . Although it is titled De octave sphaera , it is known as Letter to Wapowski . In this work he refrains from presenting his own heliocentric model, sticking to pointing out the errors of method and content of the criticized work. In 1515 he participated in the fifth Lateran Council in charge of reforming the calendar. Between that year and 1530 he wrote his main work, On the Revolutions of the Celestial Bodies, but did not publish it. Anyway, news about his research and his theory leaked out little by little. Thus, in 1533 , the papal court submitted his discoveries to discussion. In 1539 Copernicus received a visit in Frauenburg from a young German mathematician Georg Joachim von Lauchen , also known as Rhaeticus or Rheticus.

This motivates him to complete his work and helps him in his preparation. Rhaeticus spent two years in Frauenburg working with Copernicus. In 1540 , he published the first report on Copernican investigations, the Narratio prima. Unfortunately, he could not help in the final stages of printing the treaty in the German city of Wittenberg, leaving it in the hands of Andreas Osiander who, without express authorization from Copernicus and without signing it, added a prologue to the book in which he expressed that the system Heliocentric is a useful device for calculating planetary positions, but it does not have to be true, or even probable. That was not the point of view of Copernicus who undoubtedly believed in the truth of his hypothesis. Unfortunately Copernicus received a copy of the book on his deathbed. The book titled De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium appeared in March 1543 and Copernicus died on May 24 of the same year. Copernicus was not the first to point out the centrality of the Sun.

In this regard, it is enough to mention Aristarchus of Samos, who already in ancient Greece taught that the Earth and all the other planets revolved around the Sun. In any case, the model that prevailed in his time was that of Claudius Ptolemy, who stated that the earth was static and that both the Sun and the planets revolved around it. While making astronomical observations of it, Copernicus discovered anomalies in the Ptolemaic system and began to doubt its basic postulates. Copernicus carried out his observations without counting on the invaluable contribution of the telescope, which at that time had not yet been invented. To observe the celestial bodies, he spent the nights in the tower of his house in the mountains. He supplemented these observations with the reading of ancient and classical works and with his own annotations and calculations. Although the latter were not completely precise, all of his observations responded to theoretical needs and were carried out according to a pre-established plan.

The Copernican system

Copernicus’ theory stated that the Earth rotated on its axis once a day, and that it made one revolution once a year.

Nicolás in his investigations

complete around the Sun. He also stated that the Earth, in its rotational movement, tilted on its axis like a top. However, he still maintained some principles of ancient cosmology, such as the idea of ​​the spheres within which the planets were located and the outer sphere where the stars were motionless. On the other hand, this heliocentric theory had the advantage of being able to explain the daily and annual changes of the Sun and stars, as well as the apparent retrograde motion of Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, and the reason why Venus and Mercury never moved further apart. beyond a certain distance from the Sun.

This theory also held that the outer sphere of the fixed stars was stationary. One of the contributions of Copernicus’ system was the new order of alignment of the planets according to their rotation periods. Unlike Ptolemy ‘s theory , Copernicus saw that the greater the radius of a planet’s orbit, the longer it took to make one complete revolution around the Sun. But in the 16th century , the idea that the Earth moved did not move. It was easy to accept and, although part of his theory was accepted, the main basis was rejected. Between 1543 and 1600 Copernicus had very few followers. He was the subject of numerous criticisms, especially from the Church, for denying that the Earth was the center of the Universe. Most of his followers served at the court of kings, princes and emperors. The most important were Galileo Galilei and the German astronomer Johannes Kepler , who often argued over their respective interpretations of Copernicus’s theory.

He laid the foundations of Modern Astronomy . Heliocentrism took a while to prevail. In the trial of 1633, Galileo was condemned for holding the Copernican thesis, which was banned. However, some Jesuits secretly studied and taught it. The theory received a new boost with the formulation of the Law of Gravity by Isaac Newton, in the 17th century , especially in northern Europe . It took another century for Catholic thinkers in southern Europe to recognize heliocentrism as valid. It is worth remembering that, in the 15th century , Marín Luther himself had accused Copernicus of being a fool who wanted to completely turn the Art of Astronomy upside down.